The National Standards

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National Standards for Volunteer Involvement

The National Standards for Volunteer Involvement (the “Standards”) are a best practice framework to guide volunteer involvement, and are designed to be used by the person or team who have responsibility for volunteer engagement.

The National Standards highlight eight (8) key areas for effective volunteer involvement:

  1. Volunteering is embedded in leadership, governance and culture.
  2. Volunteer participation is championed and modelled.
  3. Volunteer roles are meaningful and tailored.
  4. Recruitment is equitable and diversity is valued.
  5. Volunteers are supported and developed.
  6. Volunteer safety and wellbeing is protected.
  7. Volunteers are recognised.
  8. Policies and practices are continuously improved.
National Standards for Volunteer Involvement (PDF)

Evaluating the experience of your volunteers

Utilise these simple checklists as prompts to evaluate your current practices against the best-practice National Standards.

A version of the checklist is tailored for managers and leaders, and a version tailored for your volunteers to answer.

Checklist for Volunteer Leaders (PDF) Checklist for Volunteers (PDF)

Implementing the National Standards

The National Standards Implementation Guide contains the steps, activities, policy consideration, tips, tools and advice to help when implementing the National Standards.

NSVI Implementation Guide (PDF)

Gap Analysis Tools

This is a self-assessment tool that can be used to compare your organisation against the National Standards and identify any gaps or areas for improvement.

Available formats:

Further Learning & Support

Volunteering WA offers a variety of tools and resources to assist organisations to demonstrate their compliance with the Standards.

Training & Workshops

Explore upcoming workshops and information sessions on the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement.

Consultations

Take advantage of a 1-hour consultation with Volunteering WA to discuss your organisation’s alignment to the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement.

You’ll learn about any gaps you may have and how to move forward with a reliable action plan.

1- Hour Consultation pricing is free for Volunteering WA members, and $50 +gst for non-members. An invoice will be issued once your booking has been confirmed.

Book a 1-hour consultation with a Volunteering WA team member:

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Please note, the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement (2024) are the intellectual property of Volunteering Australia. They are recognised within Australia as the best practice framework for volunteer involvement. 

As the owners of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, Volunteering Australia has endorsed its foundation members, the state and territory peak bodies for volunteering, as being the sole organisations authorised to deliver training and develop resources on the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement. 

Any unauthorised use of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement is strictly prohibited.